Snow will come to an end across New York City after sunset from the powerful nor’easter that snarled travel up and down the East Coast, dropped snow by the foot, and lashed Massachusetts with hurricane-force wind gusts that knocked out power to thousands.
New York got between 7.5 inches in Central Park to 10.3 inches at John F. Kennedy International Airport through the day, but across a large part of central and eastern Long Island totals reached above 20 inches, said Zack Taylor, a senior branch forecaster at the U.S. Weather Prediction Center. Across New Jersey there were reports of up to 18 inches, and some parts of eastern Massachusetts got 2 feet, the National Weather Service said. Boston has about 14.5 inches and snow should continue through midnight.
“The worst is probably over for the New York City metro area,” Taylor said. “The wind will still be an issue through tonight into the first part of tomorrow with blow and drifting snow.”
Temperatures will drop to 12 degrees Fahrenheit in Manhattan and 4 degrees in Boston, and together with the wind will feel closer to minus 5 to minus 10 overnight. “There are going to be pretty dangerous wind chills across much of the Northeast,” Taylor said.
The storm played havoc with ground, rail and air transportation across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. The powerful nor’easter dragged heavy snow and winds up Interstate 95 and the parallel Northeast Corridor rail route, passing over several major airports along the way. More than 6,000 flights have been canceled since Friday, including 1,057 on Sunday, according to FlightAware, an airline tracking service.
On the ground, Amtrak canceled all high-speed Acela trains between Washington, New York and Boston and is running a modified schedule for Northeast Regional trains south of Manhattan. The Long Island Rail Road suspended service, while Metro North and New Jersey Transit also modified scheduled trips while dropping some others.
Power was out for more than 130,000 customers from Florida to Maine, with Massachusetts taking the heaviest blow with 119,702 blacked out by 4 p.m. local time, according to PowerOutage.us. Observers clocked winds of 81 miles per hour on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, over the hurricane-strength threshold of 74 mph. In addition to the wind and snow, there were reports of flooding along the coast.
On Friday, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu declared a snow emergency and opened 24-hour shelters. New Jersey declared a state of emergency starting at 5 p.m. Friday in preparation for what Gov. Phil Murphy called “a significant statewide snow event.” New York State followed suit at 8 p.m.
In addition to the warnings and watches that stretch all along the U.S. East Coast, Environment and Climate Change Canada is also warning residents in its eastern Maritime Provinces to prepare.
Taylor of the National Weather Service said the sun should reappear Sunday across much of the region. Temperatures should break freezing by Monday or Tuesday and then rain will sweep in by the end of the week throughout the Northeast.
“It is probably going to make a mess,” he said. “We have the potential for some flooding.”
